Ex-top US Navy chief sentenced over contract-for-job bribery scheme
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Former US Navy Admiral Robert Burke gets six years in prison for steering a $355,000 contract to a firm that later hired him with a $500,000 salary and stock options.
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Retired Admiral Robert P. Burke, 63, right, accompanied by his attorney, walks out of the federal courthouse after being sentenced to six years in prison for his conviction on corruption charges, Tuesday, September 16, 2025, in Washington (AP)
Retired US Navy Admiral Robert Burke has been sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a substantial fine for bribery and related offenses, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Burke, 62, was convicted in May of bribery, conspiracy, and other charges after a jury found he steered a $355,000 government contract to a private firm in exchange for future employment. The four-star admiral once served as the Navy’s second-highest uniformed officer and commanded US naval forces in Europe and Africa.
According to court documents, Burke leveraged his position in 2021 to help Next Jump, a workforce-training company, secure a Navy contract to deliver programs that had been “poorly received” under a previous multimillion-dollar deal. Prosecutors said he held private meetings with the firm’s co-CEOs, Yongchul Kim and Meghan Messenger, who offered him a lucrative post-retirement role.
The contract ultimately awarded was described as covering “essentially the same programming that had failed two years earlier.”
'Tragic deviation'
After leaving the Navy in 2022, Burke began working at Next Jump with an initial $500,000 salary and $100,000 in stock options, according to the prosecution.
“He turned four stars into dollar signs and traded duty for a corporate payday,” US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.
Burke’s attorneys announced plans to appeal, calling his conduct a “tragic deviation” from an otherwise distinguished 40-year career. They argued the compensation offered was “well below” what a retired four-star admiral could typically command in the private sector.
